Refrigerating apparatus



Aug. 21, 1945. w. H. TEETER REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 29, 19432 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Wmronw H- Tan-715R.

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Patented Aug. '21, 1945 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Wilford H. Teeter,Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, acorporation of Delaware Application October 29, 1943, Serial No. 508,141

3 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and particularly toice cream storage refrigerators.

Conventional ice cream storage refrigerator cabinets, in stores werebulk'ice cream is dispensed, have an opening or openings in the top wallof the cabinet providing access to a freezing chamber therein containingcans of bulk ice cream. During the act of placing a can or cans of icecream in the freezing chamber of such cabinets, the cans must bemanually lifted upwardly and swung over the top of. the cabinet andthereafter lowered into the chamber. Such cans are ordinarily formedofmetal and when filled with ice cream are quite heavy. Frequently, a canis not elevated high enough to clear the top of a cabinet andconsequently the bottom portion or edge of such can strikes the topcorner portion of the cabinet while endeavoring to swing the can overthe cabinet. The exterior wall surfaces of ice cream storagerefrigerators are usually covered with metal panels or the like, andwhen a can of ice cream strikes the corner portion of a cabinet themetal top wall or sidewall thereof or both metal walls are bent anddamaged. If the metal exterior cabinet walls are painted 'or coated withporcelain enamel, the paint or enamel is chipped off and these wallssoon rust and become deteriorated. It is necessary to frequently replacesuch damaged metal cabinet walls in order to maintain a sanitarycondition and neat appearance of ice cream storage cabinets in stores orthe like. This replacement of the cabinet metal walls is an expensivepractice as well as beinga difficult task.

Anobject of my invention is to provide an improved refrigerator cabinetconstruction which will reduce, to a minimum the necessity of replacingdamaged exterior walls of ice cream storage refrigerators.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved cornerstructure particularly for ice cream cabinets, which structurecan berepeatedly struck by heavy objects without da'maging same.

A further object of my invention is to provide an exterior wall surfacefor a corner structure of an ice cream storage cabinet which willprevent other parts of the cabinet walls from being damaged when thecorner structure is struck by heavy objects.

, cabinet showing a refrigerating system diagramof formed of rubber 'orthe like resilient material to prevent these corners from being damagedupon being struck by. cans of ice cream.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of.

the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigeratormatically associated therewith;

Fig. 2 isan enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a top'corner of thecabinet and is taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; V

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a side portion of the cabinet with thecorner strip or wall broken away;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 ofa top three-way corner of the cabinet; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the top three-waycorner of the cabinet showing the mounting for a metal corner member.

Referring to the drawings, for illustrating the present invention, Ihave shown in Fig. 1 thereof a refrigerating apparatus of the ice cream'storage type wherein the rectangularly-shaped refrigerator cabinet isdesignated'by the reference numeral l0. Cabinet l0 includes verticalmetal exterior shells, walls or finish panels II, a top metal exteriormember 12 and an interior metal lining member M- forming walls of a foodstorage chamber l5(see Fig. 2) within the cabinet. The cabinet I0 hasanopening or openings in its top wall providing access to the chamber I5.A door or doors I3 normally close the chamber access openings. The frameof the cabinet comprises a relatively heavy metal member l6 extendingaround the top portion of cabinet I0 and butt welded to corner posts(not shown). This frame supports a relatively heavy sub-top member IIwhich may be secured thereto by bolts or the like l8 (see Fig. 2). Theexterior finish top panel 12 rests upon the sub-top member' l1 and hasits outer edge portions l9 bent down and secured to the sub-top memberby screws or bolts 2|. Any suitable insulating ma- A still further andmore specific object of my.

invention is to provide an, ice cream storage cabinet with corner wallsabout the top thereterial 22 may be disposed between the panels ll,sub-top I! and the liner N to effectively insulate the chamber IS. Ametal channel member 25,

having leg portions 26 and 21 spaced from mem-.

ber l6 for a purpose to be presently described, is welded upon the framemember l6 and is coextensive therewith at the top corners of cabinetIll. The leg portion 21 of corner channel member 25 has cut-out portions28 (see Fig. 3) spaced about twelve inches apart along the sides ofcabinet III to provide openings whereby the screws 2| may be fastened inplace.

Before proceeding with further description of the cabinet structure, Iwish to set forth that a closed refrigerating system is associated withthe cabinet "I, 'I-nis system includes an evaporator comprising aconduit 3| wrapped around and secured to the liner l4 of chamber l5 for.cooling the interior of the chamber. Evaporator 3| is. connected with arefrigerant translating and circulating unit mounted on a base 32. Thisunit comprises a sealed motor-compressor 33, a condenser 34 and a snapacting switch 35.- Evaporated refrigerant is withdrawn from evaporator3|, by compressor 33, through conduit 35. Vaporized refrigerant.entering the compressor 33 is compressed and circulated, under pressure,

, through a conduit 31, into the condenser 34. The compressedrefrigerant is cooled and liquefied in condenser 34 and is directedthrough a conduit 38 into the evaporator 3| under the control of arestrictor or expansion valve 39. A closed thermo:

corner and particularly a top corner which will not be damaged under theconditions hereirtbefore described, a resilient element 5|. formed ofrubber, synthetic rubber, or a plastic material, is located at the topcorners of the cabinet. In making this element of rubber the rubber isformed into a long one-piece strip by conventional extruding methods andhas a predetermined cross-sectional contour. This'cross-sectionalcontour of element 5| includes a relatively thick main body cushioningportion 52 having a round hole 53 provided centrally thereof andcoextensive therewith (see Fig. 2). An integral web or bead 54 formed onelement 5| interlocks with or fits under the leg portion 21 of channelmember 25 to hold one .edge of element 5| on cabinet l in abuttingrelation to the turned down edge portion l3 of.top panel [2. Anotherintegral web or head 55 formed on element interlocks with or fits underthe leg portion 26 of channel member 25 and over the top edge of sidepanel II to secure the lower portion of element 5| to the cabinet II].This abutment of web or bead 54 with th edge portion IQ of panel |2 inaddition to concealing the edge of this panel is of such tightness thatit insures against entrance corners. The hole 53 in element-5| addsresiliency to the main body portion 52 thereof so as to increaseits'cushioning effect when the wall is struck by a can of ice cream orthe like. At the corners where the cabinet top, end and adjacent sidewalls meet, a slot 55 is cut in the resilient element 5| (see'Fig. 5) sothat the element may be bent, stretched or extended around these cornersof the cabinet I0. without buckling. At each of these three-way cornersof cabinet ID, the corner portion of frame member I6 has a metal piece53 welded thereto (see Fig. 4). -The metal piece 59 is provided with atapped hole at 6| (see Fig. 5) to receive a screw 52 which holds acorner metal trim member 53 in place. The metal corner trim 53, whileconcealing the slot 58 in element 5|, also adds to the neat appearanceof the cabinet.

In assembling the strip of corner wall-forming element 5| to cabinet l0,its linear head or web portion 55 is first pushed into the spacebetweenthe leg 25 of channel member 25, frame l6 and the top edge of side panel[I to lock the one edge of the element upon the cabinet. Thereafter, theelement-5| is stretched t permit its linear bead or web portion'54 to bepushed or forced into the space between the leg 21 of member 25, framel6 and the downwardly belt edge portion 'of the cabinet top I2 to lockthe other edge of the element upon the cabinet. A soap solution or thelike may be applied to. element 5| to facilitate slipping oi the rubberbeads or webs into place. Each metal corner trim member 63 is located inplace by a screw 62 threaded into the tapped hole 5| of metal piece 59,after the strip 5| is bent around the three-way corners of the cabinetand secured thereto as described.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided an improvedrefrigerator cabinet corner wall structure and particularly a top cornerwall structure for ice cream storage or the like cabinets. My inventionprovides an exterior wall for top corners of ice cream storage or thelike cabinets which is resilient and which'will not be of water or otherforeign matter to a point beneath the member 5| to thereby preventrusting and/or corrosion of metal parts inwardly of the corner wallsurface. extends outwardlyand depends from the lower portion of lement5| and overlaps the top edge the main body portion 52 of the element'inabutting relation-with the cabinet top corner structure to form theexterior wall surface of these An integral flexible lip 56 marred ordamaged upon being struck by heavy objects and also affords protectionto the metal cabinet walls immediately adjacent such corners;

By virtue of the resiliency of the exterior corner wall, it can bequickly and easily assembled in place.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A refrigerator cabinet having a bottom wall, a top wall and anupright wall structure forming a food storage chamber within saidcabinet, means in said cabinet top wall providing an access opening forsaid chamber, movable means normally closing said chamber accessopening, a sheet member disposed over said cabinet top wall, a sheetmember disposed over said cabinet upright wall structure, the junctureof said top wall with said upright wall structure providing an exposedcorner extending horizontally around the top of said cabinet, said firstandsaid second named sheet members having their edges at said cornerterminating short thereof and in spaced apart relation to one another,and a non-metallic resilient element interposed between and concealingthe spaced apart edges of said members and being secured to said cabinetto form the exterior wall of said corner. A

2. A refrigerator cabinet having a bottom wall,

2,888,854 a top wall and an upright wall structure iorming a foodstorage chamber. within said cabinet,

means in said cabinet top wall providing an access opening for saidchamber, movable means normally closing said chamber access opening, asheet member disposed over said cabinet top wall,

a sheet memberdisposed over said cabinet upright wall structure, thejuncture of said top wall with said upright wall structure providing anexposed corner extending horizontally around the top of said cabinet;.said first and said second named sheet members having their edges atsaid comer tei'minating short thereof and in spaced apart relation toone another, a non-metallic element interposed between and concealingthe 3. A refrigerator cabinet having a bottom wall, a top wall and anupright wall structure forming a food storage chamber within saidcabinet, means in 'said cabinet top'wall providing an ac- 'cess openingfor said chamber, movable means normally closing said chamberaccess'opening, a

sheet member disposed over said cabinet top wall,

a sheet member disposed over said cabinet upright wall structure, thejuncture of said top wall with-said upright wall structure providing anexposed comer extending horizontally around the top orsaid cabinet, saidfirst and said second named sheet members having their edges at saidcorner terminating short thereof and in spaced apart relation to oneanother, a non-metallic element interposedbetween and concealing thespaced apart edges of said members and being secured to said cabinet,and said element having a relatively thick resilient portion iorming thego exterior wall of said corner.

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